Final vote for dying with dignity bill likely Thursday or Friday

The National Assembly restarts debate today on the bill to allow doctors to assist in a patient's death.

MNAs are expected to carry out about four more hours of debate before the legislation can be put to a final vote. That would place the vote on Thursday or Friday.

And, once again, many Liberals are expressing their intention to vote "no."

"A lot of it is quite personal. Personal experience. I accompanied my own mother when I was a student," says Kathleen Weil, the MNA for NDG, who says she will oppose the bill. She says she favours palliative care.

When this bill went to a second reading vote last October, half of the Liberals' MNAs opposed the legislation.

Gerry Sklavounos and Jean D'amours have also announced today they will vote against this time around, while Marguerite Blais says she has changed her mind and will now support it.

Just like the last time, the bill will be subject to free vote at its third and final reading, which means MNAs will be allowed to vote their conscious, rather than according to a party line.

Although the exact vote count is not known, this legislation only needs the support of seven Liberals in order to pass into law - a number it is very likely to obtain.